Some known vehicle systems include software applications that automatically control a throttle and brake of a vehicle in the vehicle system and/or suggest control settings for the throttle and brake of the vehicle as the vehicle system travels on a trip along a route. For example, a Trip Optimizer™ system of General Electric Company may automatically control the throttle and brakes of a vehicle, or may coach an operator how to control the throttle and brakes, based on a trip plan in order to increase efficiency, such as by reducing fuel use, while helping to keep the vehicle on schedule. The Trip Optimizer™ system creates the trip plan by collecting various input information related to the vehicle system and the trip, such as the length and weight of the vehicle system, the grade and conditions of the route that the vehicle will be traversing, weather conditions, performance of the rail vehicle, or the like. The system uses the input information to calculate an efficient way of running the vehicle system along the trip.
Some vehicle systems may travel long distances along a route from an origination location to a destination location. As the length of the trip increases, the amount of input information collected and considered in order to produce a trip plan for the trip also increases. Some of the information may be transmitted remotely from an off-board system, such as a dispatch facility. For example, the off-board system may transmit the input information to the vehicle to be used for generating a trip plan, or the off-board system may transmit a pre-constructed trip plan to the vehicle. Either way, as the amount of information transmitted increases, so too does the likelihood of an error in transmission that prevents the vehicle from receiving at least some of the information. Without receiving the information, the vehicle may not be able to construct a trip plan, travel along the trip according to a trip plan, or at least may not travel according to the most efficient trip plan available, which reduces the efficiency of the trip and represents an opportunity loss.